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My computer was locked by a pop-up that looked like safari, and had "apple security" on it. I was able to remove it. How can I determine if malware was installed?

My computer was locked by a pop-up that resembled safari. It had "applesecurity" and a phone number to call. I removed it by reading through the community. How can I determine if malware was installed on my computer? From what I read it doesn't seem like a good idea to install anti-virus software.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 9, 2014 4:56 AM

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2 replies

Sep 9, 2014 7:32 AM in response to corpatt

It's not malware. It's a JavaScript scam that only affects your web browser, and only temporarily.

1. Some of those scam pages can be dismissed very easily. Press command-W to close the tab or window. A huge box will pop up. Press the return key and both the box and the page will close. If that doesn't happen, continue.

2. From the Safari menu bar, select

Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Security

and uncheck the box marked Enable JavaScript. Leave the preferences dialog open.

Close the malicious window or tab.

Re-enable JavaScript and close the preferences dialog.

3. If the Preferences menu item is grayed out, quit Safari. Force quit if necessary. Relaunch it by holding down the shift key and clicking its icon in the Dock. From the menu bar, select

Safari Preferences... Privacy Remove All Website Data

to get rid of any cookies or other data left by the server. Open your Downloads folder and delete anything you don't recognize.

My computer was locked by a pop-up that looked like safari, and had "apple security" on it. I was able to remove it. How can I determine if malware was installed?

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